


Pre-Employment Testing

by Nevanna



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Grief/Mourning, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23160670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevanna/pseuds/Nevanna
Summary: After the Unknowing, Martin hears a story from Jon's past.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 4
Kudos: 105
Collections: The_Magnusquerade





	Pre-Employment Testing

Martin found them tucked away into one of Jon’s desk drawers: a small collection of unfamiliar tapes labeled in familiar handwriting. The earliest printed date was only a couple of days after Jon had attacked Leitner and fled the Institute.

Martin tried to convince himself that he was helping the others by sliding the tape into the nearest recording device; that they needed to arm themselves with every available scrap of information about the other clans, in case Jon never… in case they had to face the next threat without him. Still, Martin’s breath still hitched as the recording began. If he closed his eyes, he could _almost_ pretend that the speaker was in the room with him, even if little else could imitate or replace the reassuring closeness of his mind.

 _“Statement of Jonathan Sims, Head Ar –_ former _Head Archivist at the Magnus Institute, regarding a childhood encounter with a vampire.”_

Jon had never exactly been eager to offer stories of his past, although Martin had sometimes caught a stray memory or impression since their minds had become so open to each other. For whatever reason, he wasn’t entirely surprised by Jon’s recounting of his lonely childhood in his grandmother’s care, the books whose company he’d preferred to human interaction, the treasured afternoons at the local library.

 _“I was replacing a book that had been shelved incorrectly – even then, I was easily annoyed when things weren’t in their proper places – when I noticed… no, I_ felt _the creature’s presence, although it was nowhere to be seen.”_

As Martin listened, he kept one ear trained toward the entrance to the Archives. He still dreaded the visits from Elias, but no more than he ever had. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that Basira, who was also grieving for someone, had barely tried to talk to him. He’d foolishly hoped, in the first confusing days after they returned from the wax museum, that he and Melanie would be united by their shared circumstances, but her vicious anger was, in its way, almost as frightening as any of the vampires they’d met so far. She spoke to pretty much everybody with even more contempt than she had before the Unknowing _(“He tried to keep us_ safe _because we’re his_ food _; why are you still pretending it was anything else?”_ ), and seemed a little too enthusiastic about drawing blood from Jon, even if they both still needed it to survive.

Neither of them had made any move to clear Tim’s desk or sort through his things.

_“When I tried to put the book aside, my hands would not obey me.”_

Martin sat up a little bit straighter at Jon’s words.

_“I wanted to scream or flail my arms, but it was as if my body had been encased in lead. My legs carried me out of the library and into the nearest alley, and my senses were so warped by fear and anger that I didn't realize who had followed me. Whether by my own rotten luck or supernatural design, I was at the mercy of both an unseen puppet-master and an all-too-human bully.”_

Martin’s fists clenched as Jon described what his eight-year-old self had suffered at the hands of a teenager more than twice his age and size. “You didn’t _deserve_ it,” he muttered to the empty room. “Nobody would have.”

_“As he grabbed the collar of my shirt, I marshaled every last stubborn drop of terror and fury, and pushed against whatever was controlling me. The paralysis shattered, and when I picked myself up off the ground, I saw that my tormentor’s eyes had gone dull and unfocused, his arms straight at his sides. Perhaps I tried calling his name, or made an attempt to spare him from his fate, but I’m probably flattering myself. It’s more likely that I simply turned and ran. As I rounded the corner, I thought that I heard him scream._

_“His body was found, drained of blood, later that evening.”_

Martin’s heart was pumping rapidly as if he’d been the one running. He heard Jon’s sigh from the tape; could imagine him pushing his hair back from his face and straightening his shoulders.

_“From what I’ve gathered so far, each clan possesses a unique set of superhuman abilities. Vampires with the ability to control the actions of others have shown up in more than one statement. To this day, I am unsure of how I transferred the creature’s influence to the human in closest proximity, but in saving myself, I doomed another – not for the first time, as it turns out._

_“I have always been aware that there are monsters lurking at the edge of the mundane world, long before I… well, before I became one of them. But if I’m right, I may have left my assistants – the ones who still live – in the control of a far older and more dangerous monster. I need to know more about this world of which I’m now a part, if I’m to protect them from him… and from myself.”_

If Jon said anything else before the tape clicked off, Martin was crying too hard to hear it. The tears flowed harder than they had in months: for Tim and Sasha and for everyone that the Institute had trapped, whether or not they knew it; for the Jon of two decades ago, who’d been caught by the Web, and the frightened and guilty and hungry Jon of nearly a year ago. Martin cried for his boss and his master and his friend and his love, who was now lost between life – or unlife – and whatever lay beyond.

It had been enough to trust that Jon had wanted to protect his assistants before they became his thralls. Hearing him say as much on tape meant something else altogether. Martin wasn’t sure when Melanie had slipped into the room, but when their eyes met, he knew that she’d heard it, too, whether or not she preferred to believe it.

He dried his eyes. If he was certain of only one thing right now, it was that Jon would want them to be brave.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, as always, to my friends on Discord for jamming out this scenario with me. I tried to incorporate as many of our ideas as possible.


End file.
